


You're still more than I can take

by wildestoftales



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Background Liam Payne/Louis Tomlinson, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kidfic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:38:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3220928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildestoftales/pseuds/wildestoftales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Niall loved him any more than he did right this second, he'd probably burst at the seams and just spill love everywhere.</p><p>“Does the puppy have powers?” Amelia asks.</p><p>Zayn nods. “The puppy can scare off anyone and anything that might harm you,” he says promptly like he's considered this carefully. Niall is surely going to burst any second now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're still more than I can take

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my real life pal EDDA (who I managed to drag into the 1D fandom. I'm so proud)! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FRIEND. You asked me for Ziall kidfic and Ziall kidfic you shall receive. I was about to apologise for the background Lilo but then I remembered I also made you ship Lilo hard as hell. Damn, I'm good. Anyway, hope you enjoy this! (And please remember when you complained that people weren't saying "babe" enough in my last fic. I fixed it just for you. <3)
> 
> Shoutout - as always, no one is surprised - to my beta [Becky](http://archiveofourown.org/users/alovelytempest). You're an angel on earth and I adore you. Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone. 
> 
> Also a shoutout to [Pia](http://archiveofourown.org/users/niallszayn) for being my personal Ziall expert. You rock, babe. 
> 
> The title comes from Yellowcard's wonderful song "With You Around". I love Yellowcard and so should all of you, my friends. 
> 
> Obviously this is just fanfiction! None of this is real. I make no money either. Please don't show it to anyone involved or I might have to become a cave hermit and I get cold quite easily so I'd rather avoid that.

It doesn't matter how proud and happy a parent you are, being woken up by your crying infant at four in the morning remains hell on earth.

Niall hears Zayn groan very quietly and then feels him pat Niall's stomach.

“I'll get him,” he murmurs and it's only because Niall has known him so well and so long that he even understands him. Zayn makes no move to get out of bed whatsoever.

“I've got it,” Niall says and sits up. Their youngest kid's cry still sounds from the baby monitor and it spurs Niall on to push the duvet off him.

“No,” Zayn protests, albeit still half-asleep, and grabs Niall's arm half-heartedly, “I'll go.”

Niall just gets up, letting Zayn's hand drop from his arm, and pulls the duvet so that it covers Zayn up to his eyes. He giggles a little tiredly.

“Go back to sleep.” With that, Niall leaves the room towards the nursery. It's not like he loves getting out of his warm and comfortable bed in the middle of the night but Zayn had been ill just a few days ago, sleeping badly, and Niall is convinced he should still be catching up on sleep.

“Daddy! Make him stop.”

Niall stops in his tracks and looks towards his six-year-old daughter with bed hair wilder than anything he's ever seen (and he lived with Harry for a while so he's seen a lot) and a frown to strike fear into the heart of grown men.

“I'm on my way, Melly. Don't be annoyed at him, Ehan's just a baby. Go back to bed,” he says gently but the effect is ruined a little when he starts to yawn on the last word.

Amelia's frown deepens.

“That's why I wanted a puppy and _not_ a little brother,” she says matter-of-factly and closes her bedroom door behind her, hopefully about to go back to sleep.

Niall just shakes his head a little, not taking her too seriously. He's seen her push Ehan's buggy around and proudly introduce him to all of her friends and anyone else they met on the street.

Finally Niall makes it to his son and gently lifts him out of his bed.

“What is it, little man? How can I be of service?” he jokes. Ehan just looks at him for a second which makes Niall's heart melt a little, no matter the time of the day. Then he starts crying again, his mouth open wide.

Niall sighs and changes his nappy which stops him crying for now, although he squirms like his greatest wish is to fall off the changing table. Afterwards, Niall also offers him a bottle but Ehan takes one sip and then proceeds to spit the milk all over his onesie. Then he starts whimpering a little, obviously uncomfortable with the world at large right now. Niall rocks him against his chest, talking nonsense at him while searching for a new onesie with his free hand.

“You feel a bit too warm for my liking,” Niall says as he changes the unhappy baby into the bright pink onesie his big sister had picked out for him at a shop a week ago.

“Have you caught Papa's bug? I told you and Melly not to do that,” he scolds gently and strokes his son's cheek softly.

Zayn isn't even particularly surprised when Niall brings Ehan back to bed with him. He simply pulls his son towards his chest and whispers, “hi, small babe,” then pulls on Niall's hand as he climbs into bed as well and adds, “hi, big babe.”

“He feels a bit warm, think he might've caught something off you,” Niall informs him, cuddling into his husband and son comfortably. He feels sleepy now that he's back in the warm bed.

Of course, this wakes Zayn up a little. He instantly reaches out to feel Ehan's forehead, although the baby has quieted down considerably and looks to be dozing off.

“Should we-”

Niall interrupts him before Zayn can talk himself into a panic. He can be quite fussy, honestly.

“He's just a little warm, I wouldn't even call it a fever.” He grins sleepily and adds, “some cuddles from Papa and he'll be right as rain tomorrow.”

As if on cue, Ehan turns on his side (Niall is still surprised he can do that. Wasn't he born just yesterday?) towards Zayn and hides his face against his chest. Niall is trying his hardest not to coo and Zayn's dopey happy face doesn't make it any easier.

“Oh, by the way, your daughter still wants a puppy,” Niall says as he carefully arranges the duvet around all three of them.

“My daughter is asleep,” Zayn replied, his eyes already closed again.

Niall lets out a little laugh. “Yeah, well, she wants a puppy.”

“Sure it's not you who wants it?” Zayn asks.

Niall just shrugs lazily, already going back to sleep.

-

Thankfully, Ehan feels just fine come morning which is perfect because he has a busy day ahead.

“Where is my little man?” Louis demands as soon as Niall opens the door for him. He has just enough time to give Niall a quick hug then he's off towards the living room to see his godson. Niall laughs loudly.

Liam takes a little more time to greet Niall properly, hugging him for a long moment.

“Your boyfriend's going bananas over my son. When will you two get your own babies?” Niall asks, half-joking. Liam just shrugs lazily, blushing a little.

Before he can answer, however, Louis shouts from the living room, “No need! I'll steal this one,” there's a small pause, then Niall can hear Amelia shrieking and Louis shouting, “and this one!”

Zayn joins them in the hallway just as Liam is taking off his jacket and shoes which Louis hadn't bothered to do.

“Tommo trying to kidnap my children again?” he asks, amused, and hugs Liam tightly, “good to see you, man.”

Turning to Niall, Zayn says, “I told you we should've asked Harry to babysit.”

“Not sure he's less likely to kidnap them, honestly.”

Liam and Zayn both laugh, knowing Harry is just as bad as Louis when it comes to kids. The fact that they're Zayn and Niall's kids just makes the whole thing ten times worse.

“Oh, actually,” Liam says, “Harry is coming by later as well. He called this morning and got really offended when we said we're babysitting Ehan today, so he wanted to join?”

Liam doesn't ask 'if that's alright' but it's clear as day in his tone. Niall grabs Liam's arm and pulls him towards the living room.

“That's fine, Ehan's probably happy to see his three favourite uncles all at once.”

Louis is standing in the middle of the room, a happy gurgling Ehan in his arms and Amelia on his back.

“Look, a monkey climbed me,” he claims and walks towards Zayn. For a lack of free arms, he just gives him a kiss on the cheek instead.

Amelia starts making monkey noises, causing Louis to pull a face since she's loud and close to his ear.

“The monkey needs to get ready now. Remember, we're going shopping for school supplies?” Niall pulls Amelia off Louis' back and gently puts her on the floor. She's getting a little big to be carried around, anyway.

Amelia gives him a Very Offended Look.

“What are you talking about, daddy? I _am_ ready.”

All four adults in the room stop to inspect her. She's wearing bright yellow shorts with little umbrellas on them and neon blue tights underneath. Her beloved green shirt with the Hulk on it – a present from Liam, Niall is sure – is at least two sizes too small now and her curly hair is, as always, a mess.

“I think you look amazing,” Liam says and earns himself a high five from Amelia.

Niall catches Zayn's eyes across the room. Zayn shrugs a little. It's not like they really care what she's wearing and Amelia is too strong-willed now to be forced to wear anything. Their only priority, really, is that she needs to be warm enough.

“Go get your shoes, then,” Niall says, laughing, and steps forward to at least try and sort out her hair a little.

She ignores Niall in favour of telling Liam, “look, I'm wearing your shirt! It's my favourite!”

Liam laughs over the sound of Louis blowing raspberries on Ehan's tummy.

“I can see that. But I think I need to get you a new one soon, right? You're getting so tall.”

“It's my birthday in so many days,” Amelia says and holds up 6 fingers.

“Actually it's so many days,” Zayn interrupts and gently pushes one of her fingers down, “but you heard your dad, didn't you? Go find your shoes.”

She whoops a little, delighted at the prospect of one less day to wait for her birthday, and runs off.

“So is she excited for school?” Liam asks as he bends over to pick up Louis' shoes from where he had simply dropped them next to their sofa.

Louis makes a face. “She shouldn't be, school is awful.” Ehan giggles and tries to pull Louis' hair.

“She's very excited,” Niall replies, “she made me drive by the school three times last week so she could take a look. So don't ruin it for her, Lou.” Niall knows that Louis would never say anything like this in front of Amelia, though. He just felt compelled to mention it anyway.

Zayn quietly takes Louis' shoes from Liam and leaves the room. Trying his best not to watch him go, Niall gives his friends a bright smile instead. He knows that Zayn gets a bit moody whenever school is mentioned but it's only gotten worse in the past weeks. The fact that his girl will be going off to school just shocks him a little, still, Niall thinks.

“Okay, lads! We're off,” Niall says just as Amelia comes running into the room again.

“I have to say bye to my baby brother,” she says importantly when Niall bends over to give his son a goodbye kiss. She gently pushes her father to the side.

“Have fun with uncle Li and Lou, Ehan. They're cool! Lou is a bit silly sometimes, don't mind him,” she explains. Niall meets Louis' offended gaze and breaks out into helpless laughter while Liam makes a valid effort not to laugh by biting his lower lip.

Amelia places a rather wet kiss on Ehan's nose, making him laugh in delight, then she bundles out of the room. Niall takes a moment to say goodbye to his son as well as his friends, then he follows her to where Zayn is already strapping her into the car seat.

Zayn startles a little when he turns around to find Niall right beside him but he smiles after a moment.

“Trying to give me a heart attack, babe?”

“Never,” Niall assures and kisses Zayn softly – but quickly as Amelia starts to protest almost immediately.

-

“Papa, which one should I take?” Amelia asks thoughtfully and holds two pencil cases in front of Zayn's face, one green and one purple with little pink smiley faces on it.

“Whichever you like,” Zayn replies simply. He's gotten quite a bit grumpier as their shopping trip went on which Niall tries his best to compensate for. He wants this to be fun for Amelia.

He takes Zayn's free hand – the other holding various shopping bags already – in his and squeezes it, earning himself a small smile.

“I say green,” Niall says to Amelia, “it's the colour of Ireland. Can never go wrong with Ireland.”

She nods quickly. “Yeah! That's what I think, too! But the other one has smileys like Uncle Lou always draws them,” she explains.

“Oh, that's true,” Niall agrees. They all stand around contemplating for a bit until Niall has an idea.

“But you could take the green one and then ask Louis to draw smileys on for you! Wouldn't that work?”

Amelia smiles, delighted, but then frowns a little.

“Can Papa draw on it for me? He draws the best pictures!” she insists.

Niall tries to hide his grin when he can practically see Zayn's heart melting right there and then.

“Sure, middle babe,” Zayn agrees and takes the green pencil case from Amelia, “want anything specific on it?” he asks, already inspecting the case intently, probably contemplating what kind of paint he's going to need.

“Something cool,” she insists and turns away, informing the she still needs a lunch box.

“Think you can manage something cool, huh?” Niall asks, bumping his hip into Zayn's.

He gets a smile in return. One of those that can light up the whole room.

“Yeah, I think I can.”

They take Amelia to lunch and then even for ice cream when they're done shopping. Niall knows they're both spoiling her a bit at the moment but Zayn is not the only one who will miss her terribly when she spends half a day at school, although it will be less of a strain on them. Always taking two kids with them to the recording studio and such is not always the easiest or best solution.

She sits on Niall's lap, happily munching and getting strawberry ice cream all over her face when she interrupts her own story about how she's going to get the best grades out of everyone to chastise Niall.

“Daddy, your phone keeps buzzing, make it stop, please,” she tells him seriously.

Niall laughs and pulls his phone out of his pocket. 

“Oh, it's Louis,” he says and opens the chat window. Amelia almost drops her ice cream when she sees the selfies Louis keeps sending.

“What is it?” Zayn asks and leans over.

Niall can't stop laughing long enough to properly explain what he's seeing so Amelia takes the phone off him and hands it to Zayn.

“Lou drew on Ehan!” she says.

It's true. Louis has apparently drawn fat black frowning eyebrows on their son's forehead and then took a bunch of selfies – Louis frowning exaggeratedly as well.

The phone buzzes again and Zayn starts laughing as apparently more pictures appear.

“He drew eyebrows on Harry as well,” he explains and hands Niall the phone, shaking his head, “Liam looks distressed,” which is a very true description of Liam's facial expression in the background.

“Uncle Lou is so silly,” Amelia states, sounding awed.

“I know, Melly. It's not even the first time! He did this with you as well when you were as small as Ehan,” Niall explains.

Amelia's eyes go even rounder. “Really?” she asks, drawing the last syllable out for far longer than necessary.

“Yeah, really. We'll show you the pictures when we get home,” Niall promises.

-

Niall has seen The Little Mermaid too many times. Same goes for Mulan, Frozen and Tangled. He can't stand any of them anymore and Ehan's delighted smile whenever the characters on TV start singing makes him fear that the Disney movie phase will not be over when Amelia grows out of it.

He's just letting his eyes fall closed, hoping for a bit of a nap, while Ariel's prince is urged to kiss the girl, when Zayn enters the room, looking a bit unsure and obviously hiding something behind his back.

“Hi babes,” he greets them and sits down next to where Niall's head is lying. Niall fights his lethargy for a moment and then sits up.

“School starts tomorrow,” Zayn says to Amelia, “so I finished your pencil case.”

Amelia makes an excited sound and then, very carefully, picks Ehan from where he is lying on her lap, and hands him to Niall. Ehan giggled and hits Niall's chest with his tiny fist, so Niall pulls a face to make him laugh even more.

“Can you show me? Show me, show me, show me!” Amelia demands.

“Don't forget please and thank you, Melly,” Niall reminds her gently.

“Show me, Papa, please!”

Zayn hands her the green pencil case he was holding behind his back. Her eyes go wide as she inspects it and Niall leans forward so he can see as well.

“It's-,” Zayn starts to explain.

“It's me! And I have a cape and a mask! Am I a super hero?” she asks, grinning so wide that it looks like it almost hurts.

“Yeah,” Zayn says, “I figured you can fly. And make things explode with your mind.”

The wild, dark curls and the winning smile are really an uncanny representation of Amelia, Niall has to admit.

“Is that Ehan? Oh, he's a super hero, too! Daddy, look, he has a cape too!” Amelia says as she slowly turns the case around in her hand.

Niall laughs. “A baby superhero. Yeah, I can see it. What can he do?”

“Control your mind, I reckon. Like, he's so cute he even makes me want to get up in the middle of the night even though I hate that. That's mind control. Plus, he can go invisible.”

“Oh my God, there's a puppy here! With a cape! A superhero puppy!”

Zayn smiles bashfully, obviously pleased with how much Amelia likes her new case. If Niall loved him any more than he did right this second, he'd probably burst at the seams and just spill love everywhere.

“Does the puppy have powers?” Amelia asks.

Zayn nods. “The puppy can scare off anyone and anything that might harm you,” he says promptly like he's considered this carefully. Niall is surely going to burst any second now.

“This is the coolest pencil case in the whole world! Thank you, Papa!” She gives Zayn a big hug and then sits cross-legged in front of Niall to show her new case to Ehan.

“Look, Ehan, that's you! You can tell because he has brown eyes and fuzzy blonde hair just like you!”

Niall lets her talk and leans over to hide his face against Zayn's shoulder.

“I love you,” he says and then repeats it, just for good measure.

Zayn smiles brightly and kisses Niall's forehead.

“Love you, too.”

-

Their Monday morning – the first day of school – is frantic, to say the least. Amelia is excited and keeps running around, finding more stuff she needs to take with her. Ehan is tired and grumpy and spends half the morning screaming his head off or making one of his parents carry him around while singing to him.

Zayn tries his best to get breakfast ready but he keeps stopping and staring sadly at the apple he's cutting up so Niall is forced to take over.

“Come on, it'll be fine,” Niall says to him as he gently nudges him aside. Cutting apples one-handed – as he's holding Ehan – isn't an easy task but Niall is good at doing things one-handed by now. 

Carrying her backpack already, Amelia walks in.

“Papa, can you braid my hair?” she asks. “It keeps going in my eyes.”

Zayn looks torn. “I don't think we really have the time, middle babe. You know we have to wash it first and all and we did that last night so we'd save time now, remember?”

Sometimes Niall wishes his daughter had less stubborn hair as he sees her disappointed face frown. Zayn sighs and motions for her to sit down and says, “come on, I'll give it a try.”

By the time Zayn has finished braiding Amelie's hair, Niall is also done with her lunch and put it in her backpack.

“We're all ready to go,” Zayn announces and Amelie immediately shoots up and towards the mirror in her hallway.

“Thank you, Papa!” she shouts. “Harry's braids are better but this is fine, too,” she adds as she sits down on the floor to put on her shoes.

Zayn obviously tries his best not to let his face fall too obviously but Niall sees it anyway. He kisses Zayn's hair and says, “She's just excited, don't mind her. You did a great job, honestly. Remember when I got my fingers so tangled in her hair we had to cut off a bit of it?”

Niall laughs at the memory and Zayn rolls his eyes a little, smiling, at least. He gets up and takes Ehan off Niall.

“Let's get her to school, yeah?”

It's easier said than done, obviously. Amelia doesn't have a problem running off towards her new classmates after giving both her parents and her little brother a hug. They stand around a little lost, for a minute, watching her interact easily with everyone. Niall is proud and sad and nostalgic all at once. He also feels old and a little cold since Zayn hasn't let go of Ehan for ages now, holding him close against his chest.

“Let's go, then?” Niall suggests after a minute.

Zayn sighs so dramatically that Niall can't help but laugh a little. “We're ridiculous, oh god. Come on, let's go.”

Taking Niall's hand in his, Zayn starts walking.

“We shouldn't have taken the day off. I'll just be wallowing in my misery all day,” Zayn points out.

Niall raises both their hands and kisses the back of Zayn's hand while they walk.

“We can wallow together and stare at the clock until it's time to get her.”

Zayn smiles.

“You know what? That actually sounds good to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone is wondering, Melly totally got a puppy for her birthday. :)


End file.
